Men's Tennis hosts Sun Belt foe Louisiana Lafayette on Saturday

ATLANTA--The Georgia State
men's tennis team hosts its second Sun Belt Conference match of the season
against Louisiana Lafayette this Saturday at the Blackburn Tennis Center (3
p.m.).

Saturday's
matchup between evenly-matched Georgia State (7-6) and Louisiana Lafayette
(7-6) is an important match in eventually determining seeding for the Sun Belt
Conference Tennis Championship in April. It is also a key match for both teams
as they enter difficult stretches of their respective schedules.

Georgia
State is looking to bounce back from a narrow 4-3 loss at No. 67 Georgia Tech
last Thursday. GSU's matches last Saturday and Sunday were canceled due to poor
weather conditions. The team will have had eight days between matches to
prepare for Saturday's contest and a critical stretch of matches next week. The
Panthers travel to UAB, nationally ranked in the preseason, next Wednesday for
an afternoon contest before hosting a rematch against North Florida on Monday,
Mar. 18. The Panthers won a narrow 4-3 contest against the Ospreys at the ITA
Kick-Off Weekend on Jan. 26.

Saturday
will be the first matchup between the Georgia State and Louisiana Lafayette
men's tennis teams in series history.

"Louisiana
Lafayette has appeared in the national rankings the past couple of years, they
are a well-coached team," GSU first-year head coach Joerg Barthel. "It is
important for us to have a winning attitude throughout every spot in our lineup
with no let downs on any court. If we can be competitive and maintain a great
attitude in all six of our singles spots and three doubles pairs, we will do
very well to close this regular season."

Senior
Victor Valente looks to continue his recent run of impressive play in both
singles and doubles. In just the last two weeks, Valente is 4-0 in singles play
with two victories over nationally-ranked opponents and one over a
regionally-ranked foe. Most recently, Valente defeated the No. 53-ranked Juan
Spir of Georgia Tech in straight sets to give him his third win over a
nationally-ranked opponent this season. In the same match he paired with senior
Lucas Santa Ana to defeat Spir and Vikram Hundal, the No. 3-ranked doubles team
in the nation. It set the school record for the highest-ranked doubles victory
and improved the duo to 11-0 this year.

Louisiana
Lafayette has faced four nationally-ranked opponents but has yet to defeat one this
season. The Ragin' Cajuns are led by junior Rick de Groot at the No. 1
position. De Groot is 7-5 this season playing primarily at the No. 1 singles
position. The team also features a pair of brothers, Jake and Jarred Wynan,
from Nimmitabel, Australia. Both are ranked in the Southern Regional Singles
rankings with Jake Wynan, a sophomore, at No. 12 and Jarred Wynan, a freshman,
at No. 19.

Georgia
State will look to reverse a recent rash of narrow losses on Saturday. GSU's
past four losses, split by a 4-3 win vs. College of Charleston, have all come
by two points or less.

"One
thing that has hurt us is finishing matches when we have chances," Barthel
said, "We are putting ourselves in a spot to finish strong and win against top-ranked
teams but have failed to convert on those chances. As a coach, I am glad that
we are in the position to win matches against Top 50 teams, but we need to
learn to play strong until the end."

Live
stats will be provided for the match courtesy of GeorgiaStateSports.com. Visit
the men's tennis page for a full recap and results following the match.